Some professors at the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA), the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have petitioned Nigeria’s Education Minister, Tunji Alausa, to overturn what they described as “illegal” appointment of an acting registrar by the institution’s Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council, Lanre Tejuoso.
The petitioners are Professors Gambo Dan’Asabe and Murtadha Oluyemi Badmus; Yunus Momoh, Mansur Kani, and Binta Dabai, all PhD certificate holders.
Earlier on Monday, 12 May, the university, in a statement issued by the acting Vice-Chancellor, Patricia Lar, announced the appointment of Roseline Adakayi as the acting registrar for six months.
According to the statement, Mrs Adakayi’s appointment followed the expiration of the tenure of Islamiya Abdulkareem, whose six-month tenure in acting capacity reportedly ended on Monday.
But the lecturers have accused the leadership of the university of flouting the institution’s extant laws and regulations that govern such appointments, saying only a duly constituted governing council could make such an appointment.
Background
UNIABUJA has been enmeshed in a series of crises within the last couple of months over the appointment of a new management, including the positions of a substantive vice-chancellor and that of a registrar.
Following the expiration of the tenure of the immediate past substantive Vice-Chancellor, AbdulRasheed Na’Allah, a professor, the process to appoint his successor stirred controversies. Though Mr Na’Allah’s successor in acting capacity, Aishat Maikudi, a professor of Law, was eventually appointed as substantive vice-chancellor.
While the process for the appointment of the VC was on, the tenure of the then substantive registrar, Yahaya Mohammed, also came to an end on 12 November 2024. The development paved the way for the appointment of Mrs Abdulkareem pending the completion of the process for the appointment of a successor in substantive capacity.
However, while Mrs Maikudi was settling down to work as the university’s substantive VC, President Bola Tinubu abruptly announced her removal and dissolved the governing council.
Ahead of the composition of the membership of a new governing council for the university, Mr Tinubu announced the transfer of Mr Lanre Tejuoso, a medical doctor, who at the time was serving as the governing council chairman of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, to UNIABUJA as the council chairman.
However, since February, when Mr Tejuoso’s appointment was announced, other members of the council have yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, after the six-month tenure of the acting registrar, rather than announcing a renewal, the university management appointed Mrs Adakayi in her place.
But the professors have kicked against the university’s decision, describing it as illegal, and claiming that only a properly constituted governing council can make such an appointment.
Petition
The petitioners have insisted that the appointment is invalid “on multiple grounds” and urged the minister’s immediate intervention.
According to the petition, the University of Abuja Act explicitly reserves the power to appoint an acting registrar in a duly constituted governing council.
The council, they noted, was dissolved on 6 February, leaving no lawful body empowered to make such an appointment.
They argued that any approval issued by Mr Tejuoso in the absence of a sitting council therefore, amounts to an unlawful usurpation of authority, even as they called on the minister to “call Dr. Tejuoso to order” and to invalidate the circular in question.
Beyond the procedural irregularity, the petitioners noted that Mrs Adakayi’s appointment lacks merit, arguing that “she is neither the most senior nor the most qualified among the deputy registrars in the university. She does not possess superior academic credentials or administrative experience to justify her selection.”
Other grounds
The petitioners further alleged that the composition of principal officers under the current leadership reflects a troubling religious homogeneity, which they claimed marginalises the Muslim community within the university and contradicts the institution’s founding principle of inclusivity.
The petition also highlighted a breach of the Federal Character principle enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, pointing out that both Mrs Adakayi and the university’s Bursar, Shiva M’ovul-Kondou, originate from Benue State, thereby concentrating key administrative roles in a single state.
They further warned that these developments, coupled with the alleged removal of several Muslim officials, “threaten to erode the university’s national outlook and reduce it to a sectional, mono-faith institution rather than the federal, pan-Nigeria body envisaged at its founding.”
They urged the minister to reverse the appointment of Mrs Adakayi and issue a directive prohibiting further unauthorised approvals.
“In light of the foregoing, we respectfully and urgently request the Honourable Minister to reverse the purported appointment of Mrs Roseline Adakayi; direct that all actions in violation of due process be rescinded; and issue a firm directive against further illegalities by persons currently acting without the requisite authority,” they said.
Meanwhile, copies of the petition have been forwarded to the National Security Adviser, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, the chairpersons of the Senate and House committees on tertiary and university education, and the Sultan of Sokoto, Mohammed Abubakar.
